> Paywalls offend me. The Internet exists to share knowledge with everyone across the world. You shouldn’t need a subscription, all you should need is an internet connection to access the world’s knowledge. That is some Grade-A willful ignorance. Professional writers who perform their due diligence get paid. Professional photographers who travel and document important causes get paid. Editors who ensure accuracy and…
Piracy is a usability problem. People want to read one article, not subscribe for a year. This is just like pirating one song instead of buying the album.
Piracy is a business problem. They'd happily sell you one article a year if you're willing to pay more to offset the lack of a predictable revenue stream. Feast or famine tends to be a big problem for sustainability though, and it's one reason companies like Adobe moved Photoshop to a subscription model.